We must take fight to USA, says Moore
Win or go home, the task facing Bermuda Under-19s against USA in Florida today is just that simple.Victory in their penultimate ICC Americas match is essential if the Island’s youngsters are to keep their World Cup dream alive, and Bermuda head coach David Moore is determined that his side will attack from the first ball.Of course, nothing is ever totally straight forward, and even a win leaves Bermuda having to rely on a variety of outcomes to get them through to the global qualifiers in Ireland in July.With another round of matches to come tomorrow, when Canada and USA face each other, and Bermuda take on Argentina, the battle for the second qualifying spot could quite easily come down to run rate.The maths however is for the future. Today is all about getting the better of a USA side that have comprehensively beaten anyone they’ve played so far this week, including a 285 run thrashing of Argentina.“It’s pretty easy to be honest,” said Moore, “we’ve just got to beat these guys and then if we are good enough to beat this team then it’s up to us to go hard against Argentina.“I think from our point of view we’ve got to take the game to them (USA), I think we need to be aggressive and show them that we’re afraid of them. We’ll try and always bat first against those teams.“With these teams that are strong you’ve always got to take the game up to them. You can’t hide behind them batting first, because you allow them to dictate play. If we can bat against teams and get 220-240 on a surface like we’re playing on tomorrow (Friday), then we’re right in the game.”Despite only just scraping past Cayman Islands in their first game, and being bowled out for 87 against Canada, Moore still believes his side can beat USA, and he believes the key will be about which team copes best with the pressure of the occasion.“Everyone is still learning, and pressure is still a massive thing for this level,” said Moore. “Of course there are some young guys that handle the pressure superbly, and then there are some young guys that don’t handle the pressure at all.“Whenever you’re in an under-age competition, if you can bat first and get a decent total on the board, you can always put pressure on, and that’s the key to winning these games.“We were able to put pressure on Canada, and we only got 87. Even though they only lost two wickets, it shouldn’t take 30 overs to get 88 runs when you’re batting second on a flat wicket.“You get a couple of wickets and then the batsmen are trying to solve problems that aren’t actually there. Which is exactly what you want.”Moore is hoping to have Greg Maybury fit for today’s match after the bowler missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury.William White meanwhile is expected to continue his role at the top of the order despite having a suspected broken toe.Maybury’s return would help bolster a bowling attack that has been a little wayward over the past three matches, something that Bermuda can ill-afford against the Americans. Especially as they need to keep in touch in terms of run rate as well.“We’re really got to hit our straps against the US, that’s for sure, because if we don’t beat the US then the next game is a dead rubber for us,” said Moore.“If we beat the US we then have to work out what we are going to do (against Argentina). But, the only way to do it (improve the run rate) in that situation is try and bowl the team out for as little as possible and then get the runs (quickly), or vice versa.“We’ll need to make that assessment tomorrow (Friday) afternoon and really play well against Argentina. They (Argentina) have had some low totals, but they also got a good total against Cayman Islands, who we could only get 180 against.“You can never take anyone for granted in these sorts of tournaments.”